Safety headgear



July 27, 1937. c. w. WATKINS 2,088,183

SAFETY HEADGEAH Filed Sept.- 17, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Y 1937- C.w. WATKINS 2,088,183

. SAFETY HEADGEAR Filed Sept. v1'7, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Patented July 27, 1937 UNITED STATES SAFETY HEADGEAB Charles" Walter Watkins, Kingston, rs... assignor to Mine Safety Appliances Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 17, 1934, Serial No. 744,345

7 Claims.

This invention relates to safety headgear, and more particularly to headgear for miners and others exposed to falling objects.

Safety headgear which is worn for the purpose of protecting the head from blows or from falling objects must be of strong rigid construction to withstand shocks and prevent them from being transmitted directly to the head. As previously constructed, thecrown portions of such headgear, both caps and hats, or helmets, have been made of conventional shape and throughout from these rigid materials. In consequence some persons experience discomfort when wearing such headgear because of the unyielding nature of the crown, especially when they are worn for extended periods of time, as is thecase with miners, for

example. This discomflture may be, and commonly is, due to the pressure of the rigid front of the headgear against the forehead, where it may press on certain nerves, it being necessary that such hats be pressed down firmly on the head so that they will seat securely and be lessilikely to fall or be knocked off the head.

Furthermore, in the construction of safety headgear, particularly those made from the synthetic resins, it has been necessary to make the crown rather high in order to provide the necessary strength. For some purposes, as in low diggings, high crowns are undesirable because they may require the wearer to stoop, or because they may strike against the roof and be knocked out of place or completely off the head.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide safety headgear which has a low but strong crown, which does not bind or press tightly against the-forehead, and which is relatively light in weight and comfortable to wear. Other objects are to furnish headgear .of the type referred to herein which seats firmly but lightly on 49 the head, which is relatively inexpensive to produce, and which can not injure the ears. A further object is to provide safety headgear which can be removably disposed in various types of non-safety hats and caps.

45 The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side view of a safety headgear; Fig. 2 a bottom plan view thereof; Fig. 3 a side view of a modified form of safety headgear; Fig. 4 a bottom plan view thereof;

50 Fig. 5 a front view of the headgear shown inv Fig.

3; and Fig. 6 an' enlarged view taken on the line VI'-VI of Fig. 3 showing the material of the headgear in section.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the

55 embodiment shown is in the form of a shallow crown member I adapted to be removably disposed as a liner in the crown of substantially any hat or cap which it is desired to convert into a safety headgear, although shown in the drawings as disposed in a miners conventional fabric cap 5 2 indicated by broken lines. The crown member is made of a blow-resistant rigid material, such as fabric impregnated with a suitable synthetic resin, or, for example, shaped metal, fibre, or hardened asphaltic or rubber compositions, or 10 other materials suited to this purpose.

The rear portion of the crown member preferably extends downwardly, as shown in Fig. 1, in the usual manner for protecting the back of the head, but in accordance with this invention the 15 front portion of the crown member is cut away so that it will not cover the lower part of the forehead. Thus, when the crown member is disposed in cap 2 or the like, the flexible front portion 3 of the cap adjoining the visor l is free to 20 engage the forehead for holding the cap on the head, and, front portion 3 being a flexible fabric, undesirable pressure is not exerted on the forehead by the cap, although it rests securely and comfortably on the head.

In order to prevent the portion of the crown member which overlies and protects the forehead from causlng'discomfort, a cushioning pad 6, advantageously of fabric to provide resiliency, is fastened inside the crown member against its 30 sides and back. The pad is in the general shape of a horseshoe with its ends disposed at the sides of the forehead, and, as shown in Fig. 1, is disposed above the sweatband line; that is above the area that the sweatband would occupy. This pad 35 spaces the crown member from the head, but as the pad does not extend entirely across the forev head, an open space is left between the forehead and crown member whereby the latter exerts sub- I stantially no pressure on the forehead. Being above the sweatband line, the pad cannot bind on the head. Likewise due to the spacing of the crown member from the head by horseshoe pad 6, the likelihood of the wearer of this safety headgear being stunned by shocks received by the crown member is diminished.

' Safety crown members of this type can be used with substantially any head-gear for rendering it resistant to the blows of falling objects, and, if damaged, can be readily discarded and replaced at little cost. It is especially advantageous for use with miners fabric caps which are inexpensive, but which, by means of this safety crown member, can be converted into safety headgear a small additional expense.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 3 to 6. This is similar to that just described, except that the blow-resistant rigid crown member ll, instead of being an insert or liner for complete hats or caps, actually forms the crown portion of a cap. This crown member may be the same as crown member I, Figs. 1 and 2, but is shown as having a depending portion In at the extreme back for protecting the back of the head, while the sides do not extend down as far as the back, and the front portion is cut so high that it does not overlie the forehead.

As indicated above and as shown in the drawings, this embodiment is in the form of a miners cap comprising the rigid crown member II, a visor I 4 of leather or the like, and an intermediate connecting portion l3 of fabric stitched or otherwise attached to the lower edge of the crown member. Described in another manner, it is a miner's fabric cap with rigid crown member H substituted for the fabric crown of the cap.

Fig. 6 is a greatly enlarged sectional view of a portion of the safety cap showing fabric l3 attached to crown member II which is illustrated as being formed of two layers of fabric ll, such as, for example, duck, impregnated with synthetic resin l8, for example of the phenol-formaldehyde type, to make it strong and rigid. The fabric portion l3 of the cap beneath the rigid crown member insures the cap fitting securely but comfortably on the head without undue pressure on the forehead. Although the rigid crown member does not overlie the forehead, it is still desirable to provide it with a horseshoe pad I 6 for spacing it from the head. As shown in Fig. 3, this pad is secured to the rigid crown above the sweatband line of the cap where it cannot bind on the head and where it aids in spacing the top of the crown from the head to prevent the wearer from being stunned if the crown is struck a hard blow.

The headgear can be still further improved by securing inside of the crown member a hammock or cradle adapted to rest on the head for distributing thereover shocks imparted to the crown member. The cradle comprises an annular band 2| of cloth or other material which is bent under horseshoe pad l6 and fastened to crown member ll preferably by the same means used to fasten the pad thereto. The upper portion of the band is provided with a plurality of flaps 22 which are adjustably gathered at the top by a lace 23 for limiting the distance the head can extend up into the cap.

The cap may also be provided with other accessories such as a lamp holder, and while conventional forms of holders may be used the invention provides a form particularly suitable for supporting carbide lamps. The holder shown comprises a support 26, preferably of fibre material, riveted.at its ends or otherwise attached to the front of crown member H and to visor l4, and a metal bracket 21 attached in any suitable manner to the front face of the upper portion of this support. This bracket preferably is formed with upper and lower forwardly looped portions 28 and 29, respectively, which are provided with vertically aligned holes 3| for'receiving the rear leg of a hook 32 by which a carbide lamp 33 is supported. The forward edge of upper looped portion 28 is provided with a recess 34 directly in front of holes 3| for receiving the front leg of hook 32 to prevent the lamp from turning relative to the holder and cap. Placing of the rear.

Safety headgear produced in accordance with this invention is relatively light in weight and inexpensive, but satisfactory for the purposes for which it is intended. It is comfortable to wear because it does not bind on the head, particularly on the forehead where pressure often causes headache; however, it seats securely on the head and fits closely enough thereto to avoid being knocked out of place by overhead objects. Furthermore, with flexible fabric between the rigid crown member and the visor, if the crown member is suddenly forced down on the head, eyeglasses or goggles are not knocked off or broken, and more protection is thereby given to the eyes and face.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, Within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. In combination with a headgear, a safety crown member comprising a shallow member disposed in said head-gear and formed from blowresistant rigid material, and cushioning means associated with the inside lower portion thereof for engagement with the sides and back of the head, the portion of said crown member adjacent the forehead being free of said cushioning means and out of contact with the forehead,

whereby said crown member exerts substantially no pressure against the forehead.

2. A safety headgear comprising a shallow crown member formed from blow-resistant rigid material, a visor member, and a relatively flex-- ible intermediate portion connecting the crown member to the visor, said crown member being provided interiorly of the back and sides and adjacent its lower portion with a resilient cushioning pad for engagement with the sides and back of the head, the portion of said crown member adjacent the forehead being free of said cushioning means and out of contact with the forehead, whereby said crown member exerts substantially no pressure against the forehead.

3. A safety headgear comprising a shallow crown member formed from blow-resistant rigid material, a visor member. a relatively flexible intermediateportion connecting the crown member to the visor, and a horseshoe shaped pad secured inside of the lower portion of the crown member with its ends disposed at the sides of the forehead, said pad being adapted to engage the sides and back of the head and to hold the front portion of the crown member out of contact with the forehead, whereby said crown member exerts' substantially no pressure against the forehead.

4. In a safety headgear, a crown member formed from substantially rigid material, and a horseshoe shaped pad connected inside of the lower portion of the crown member with its ends disposed at the sides of the forehead, said pad being adapted to engage the sides and back of the head at a point spaced upwardly from the lower head-engaging edge of the gear to hold the front portion of the crown member out of contact with the forehead without binding on the head.

5. In a safety headgear, a crown member formed from substantially rigid material, a horseshoe shaped pad connected inside of the lower portion of the crown member with its ends disposed at the sides ofthe forehead, said pad being 5 adapted to engage the sides and back of the head at a point spaced upwardly from the lower headengaging edge of the gear to so support the crown member as to hold the front portion of the crown member out of contact with the fore- 10 head without binding on the head, and a cradle connected in the crown member to said pad for engaging the top of the head and distributing thereover shocks received by said crown member.

6. For use in a safety headgear, acrown mem- 15 her formed from substantially rigid blow-resistant material to fit over the top and a portion of the sides of the head, and resilient cushioning means arranged within said crown member above the lower edge thereof and at a point spaced up- 20 wardly from the lower head-engaging edge of the gear and disposed to engage the sides and back of the head only whereby the portion of the crown member adjacent the forehead is so supported as to exert substantially no pressure against the forehead. 5 7., A safety head-gear comprising a shallow crown member formed from blow-resistant rigid material, a visor member, and an intermediate flexible body portion of fabric for encircling the head and connecting the visor to the crown 10 member, the upper edge portiononly of said fabric engaging the crown member at its lower edge portion only, means for connecting the upper edge of the fabric to the lower edge of the crown member, and means secured to the crown mem- 15 her above said fabric for spacing. the front portion of the crown member from the forehead, whereby the rigid crown member exerts substantially no pressure against the forehead.

CHARLES WALTER WATKINS. 20 

